Urban Underground, The Bus Stop Return

February 27, 2011 by Quan Vu 3 Comments


Hip-hop heads will face a tough decision this Wednesday night. Both Urban Underground and The Bus Stop, two local series with a focus on underground hip-hop, are making their respective returns to the scene after brief (or not-so-brief) absences. Urban Underground will feature local talent on top of headliner Cormega, including: S.P.A.M. (Holiq & Mannyfesto), Blakk Sunn (Sha Dula & Asia), West Indies, and Diego Brown Project. The Bus Stop has “Braggin Writes” live (how many times have I linked to this video already?).

While I’m happy that both series are back, I’m wondering how long they can survive while competing with each other. Urban Underground looks to be a weekly event taking place every Wednesday at Kava Lounge. The Bus Stop will be a monthly occurring the first Wednesday of each month at El Dorado Bar. UU will be fine three weeks of the month but that first Wednesday will always be a toss up, dependent on which series’ headliner is doper. And at this point, it’s unrealistic to think that there’s enough of an audience for underground hip-hop to support two shows.

Given that UU plans like mini-tours of SoCal for their headliners (UU is also in Los Angeles and like Orange County or something and their headliners are scheduled for each city on consecutive nights), it seems unlikely that they could or would budge on scheduling conflicts. It may have to be The Bus Stop that has to switch up their night, though it’s hard to see what other options they may have considering Thursdays are reserved for hip-hop at U-31 and Fridays/Saturdays are nearly impossible to book. Obviously, the organizers for UU and The Bus Stop need to sit down and work something out.

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Video: Strong Arm Steady – Klack Or Get Klacked

February 24, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

A good message told well, although I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to leave all those guns in the dumpster. Imagine if this dude lived in the area. Either way, it’s a good excuse to hear Mitchy’s closer again. Album review pending (no, I’m serious this time).

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Bad Karma – Oh Law’d x Bravo

February 23, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Bad Karma “Oh Law’d“
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Bad Karma ft. Mark The Shark “Bravo“
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Karma’s always been a creative writer and that hasn’t changed yet (“flash a little mildew,” “lost in the beat/ chilling with a Laker girl giving Boston to me”). But now it sounds like he’s also getting better as a rapper, in a technical sense. His flow’s better, more controlled and confident than before. He even experiments with a little double-time on the last verse of “Bravo,” though it’s still in its rough stages (not to discourage him–more rappers should to learn how to double-time it). This could only be a good thing.

It’s also nice to hear Mark The Shark on “Bravo.” Every verse he spits sounds like he’s schizo-excited to be rapping, the way he jumps from idea to idea so ADHD-ishly, rhyming in-between, over, and around the beat playfully. And if “Oh Law’d” is an original Kriis Money or Mike George production, it’s fucking beautiful, like an underground lake inside a crystal cavern.

Peace to Doubl3e.

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Mixtape Review: Philly Phil – Wasn’t Born Wit It

February 22, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


DOWNLOAD: Philly Phil – Wasn’t Born Wit It Mixtape*
Philly Phil “Tear Mines Off“
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Phillly Phil “The Have-Nots“
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In a time when ex-corrections officer Rick Ross can find both commercial success and critical respect posing as a drug kingpin, being “real” has never seemed to matter less. But trust that it still does, or at least it can. While many of his peers are out trying (but failing) to out-do Officer Ross in grandiose displays of gross decadence, Philly Phil stands out by staying down to earth with nose-to-the-grind rapping. Read more of this post

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Stuntdouble – El Guapo x Diss Me

February 21, 2011 by Quan Vu 8 Comments


Stuntdouble “El Guapo” [prod. Tenshun]
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Stuntdouble “Diss Me“
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I first heard “El Guapo” when I snuck in on this hella underground event at Portugalia a few months ago. It struck me at first just because the crowd got into it. More than a few people were tugging their beards up towards Stuntdouble in laughter. Listening to it now, I like it because it’s funny without going overboard into cornball territory. Tenshun’s Southern-fried funky beat helps, of course. But Stuntdouble’s definitely got a knack for self-deprecating humor. You can hear it again on “Diss Me” though he flips it into more of an Atmosphere-ish style on this song.

“El Guapo” comes from Don’t Have To Be Drunk To Tell The Truth which may never again see the light of day depending on Stuntdouble’s chip stack so tough break if you were trying to get a copy (yeah, I’m assed out too). But he is working on new material with Tenshun. Hopefully, we’ll hear back soon.

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Odessa Kane – Disfigurement

February 20, 2011 by Quan Vu 9 Comments


Odessa Kane “Disfigurement” [prod. Aims One]
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More esoteric spit from Odessa Kane that sounds fly as shit. Aims’ production goes hard but I get the feeling it’s not nearly challenging enough for O.Kane. This is kinda tame compared to some of the drum-n-bass experimentation he’s done with Orko in the past. Still, this song will wake you up on a Monday.

In other news, Scatterbrain blogs.

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Blame One – Blessed Weapon

February 17, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


Blame One “Blessed Weapon” [prod. DJ Day]
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Blame sometimes reminds me of Black Thought circa Illadelph Halflife with the elevated, esoteric poetry mixed into the battle rhymes. Lines like “My pen like an artifact buried under pyramid scrolls, every word is like a whisper from a thousand souls” and basically the entire chorus make the song sound like “Concerto of the Desperado“* set to a soul sample. Am I tripping?

Blame One landed a spot on the Paid Dues Festival, going down on April 2. Looks like he’ll be holding down the Grind Time stage with several other Dirty Science/Dream Sequence cohorts. Unfortunately, that means he will not be sharing a stage with Asher Roth ……

*Yes, this entire post is an excuse to listen to Illadelph in its entirety.

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Black Fam – Steppin Out x Shoot Em Up

February 16, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


Big City Monsters “Steppin Out”

Young O “Shoot Em Up”

A couple tracks from different members of Black Fam. The production steals the show on both songs. “Shoot Em Up” goes extra hard with the crashing drums and layers upon layers of pianos, strings, gunshots, laser guns, and a killer vocal sample. “Steppin Out” works better as a complete song with lush production and rhymes that seem less about baller braggadocio and more about enjoying the good life with your fam. I’m wondering if these were produced by GodSon (I know they run in the same circles but I’m not sure if he’s officially Black Fam).

And yeah, my bad. Black Fam has been long overdue for some attention. Packablacks was the first local group I ever saw back in high school. Seriously, I thought they were like the SD Wu-Tang or something.

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Video: Smigg Dirtee – Fuck You

February 15, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

This one of the few times that I’ve heard Smigg open up, in this case, revealing his drug addiction and a little about his relationship to his kids. And he also shows emotion. He can snap on some mixtape shit but I rarely hear anything much deeper. I think this song and his feature on Treali Duce’s A Man’s Heart album are really good looks for him.

Via SD Hip-Hop Hustle.

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Jayo Felony – Dick On Your Forehead

February 14, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Jayo Felony “Dick On Your Forehead“
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Jayo talking hella shit, as you could’ve guessed from basically the best song title of the year. Between this and “My Madness,” Jayo’s really trying to remind us why we cared about him in the first place. Eagerly awaiting the oft-delayed Don’t Get Meatballed, an album title that seems a lot more literal in the context of this song.

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